Popularity is everything; I play a super genius

Starting with elaborate costumes and such in the first round of auditions seems like overkill, and Rina doesn't think it's necessary.

—That's a nice way of putting it.

The main reason is that Rina's armor is of the "Heart Essence Garment" type. When unfolded, it does not bring a significant increase in speed and does not help "Crossing the Sea" much. Instead, it wastes Heart Essence.

However, even without going all out, Rina's purpose of keeping watch was already achieved.

The power of Liuli's spiritual echo was greatly diminished after being intercepted by her.

When the lingering echoes struck Charles and the others, they only delayed their attack for a negligible moment, without affecting the overall situation.

Cries of panic, screams, curses...

The landing point was in complete chaos.

Saki had anticipated this, so it was impossible for him to be completely unprepared.

He and Huomu and the others could have landed on the island much earlier, but they ended up lagging behind the other candidates, waiting for this very moment—

After the five members of Kalentia unleashed their first round of echoes, they rebuilt the gaps between the next rounds of echoes!

Although the five members of the Shard did demonstrate the elite level of Kalentia in their mastery of Echoes and their teamwork.

The five people constructed the circuits at extremely short intervals and consciously took turns releasing them to make up for their respective vacuum periods.

However, the brief moment of delay that Liuli gained was enough!

In a flash, he leaped out of the sea with Saki in his arms.

Qi Ji took out the [Thousand Faces] card and threw it at At, who was holding a giant sword and blocking their landing point.

The card shattered in mid-air, turning into hundreds and thousands of mirror fragments.

Then, in an instant, they coalesced into a long sword radiating light, which thrust straight toward At's face!

Ate scoffed, not taking the weak and feeble sword strike seriously.

He didn't think there would be any suspense about the outcome between the elites of Kalentia and the rabble of Shangxin City.

Art didn't even bother to look at the sword pieced together from fragments; he simply parried, intending to swat it away like a fly.

His attention was focused more on Setsuna, wary of a possible surprise attack from the speed-type Echoer.

However, at the very moment the two swords clashed—

The sword shattered again!

Fragments exploded everywhere, each reflecting a blinding light that made At's vision go completely white.

"?!"

Ate instinctively squinted, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.

But it was too late!

The fragments that filled the sky did not scatter, but instead passed over his sword and reformed!

The moment the sword re-formed, it was already aimed directly at his throat!

This is the first true name that Qiji [Thousand Faces] unlocked—

The Mirror Sword!

With the help of the card, he can even use it without unfolding his armor!

Moreover, because the acquisition of this true name occurred later than the infinite weakness of the [equivalent prayer], it was not affected by any "weakness".

It can still exert 100% of its power!

At this moment, Ate's pupils suddenly contracted!

The superiority and arrogance emanating from Kalentia made him lower his guard, and by the time he realized what was happening, it was too late.

At had no choice but to retreat hastily, and the landing point he was guarding was exposed in that one step!

Seeing this, Dorian, who was in charge of blocking the approaching landing point, couldn't help but laugh:

"Att, it's only been a few days, what happened to you? You can't even stop a patient in a wheelchair?"

Despite his sarcastic remarks, Dorian showed no sign of slack in his work.

He immediately activated the Echo to help Atlantis stop the Qiji group from landing on the island.

Thousands of petals transformed into sharp blades, attacking Setsuna and Saki Sakuya head-on.

As she held Saki in her arms, they were in mid-air and unable to change direction for a moment. She was about to forcibly activate her armor.

The next instant, a voice was heard rapidly approaching from afar:

"Brother Qiji, I'm here to help you!"

It turned out to be the squad leader, Rock, who had activated the [Solid Rock Stance], standing in front of them like a city wall.

The giant, who was over two meters tall, had rock-like textures on his skin. The petal-shaped throwing knives struck him with a crisp clanging sound, but they didn't even leave a white mark.

Pan Yan burst into loud laughter, his voice like muffled thunder: "Didn't you eat? I'm going to eat more, put in even more effort!"

Charles's gaze was drawn to the commotion, and he couldn't help but frown.

He didn't expect that their garbage cleanup plan would be leaky from the very beginning.

These small fry in the City of Fire were not quite what he had imagined...

How dare you fight back?

They really don't know what's good for them!

Charles was displeased and was about to make a move.

However, Su Shi, wearing a fox mask, stepped forward and blocked his way.

Su Shi said nothing, only stared at him silently.

This scene, however, is a damn overlap with that scene in my memory, in the sea of ​​consciousness!

Unpleasant memories flooded back, and Xia Er immediately became irritable.

In a flash, a decision was made.

Once the landing point has been breached, it won't be so easy to block it again.

Instead of continuing to entangle with these ants who are destined to be crushed by him in the next round, it's better to prioritize securing a top-five ranking!

It's important to know that the top five players who advance from each island will receive a [Trial Item] that can be used in the next stage upon completion.

This is a real advantage that we cannot let slip away!

With this in mind, Charles waved to the group from Kalentia, signaling them to give up on further entanglement with the rabble and leap into the teleportation array first.

Only by entering the teleportation array can one truly advance, and only then will the score for the first stage be finalized!

"Ruri!" Saki Jaku called out to remind him.

Before she could finish speaking, Liuli had already flapped her wings and soared away.

At the same time, Su Shi also rushed towards the teleportation array.

She didn't seize the opportunity to take first place when Karentia intercepted Saki and the others because she wanted to stay on the island and cover her classmates' landing.

The next stage is the team competition. If she is the only one who passes, it will be meaningless even if she wins first place in the preliminary round.

Now that Pan Yan and the others have successfully landed on the island, she has no more worries.

The advantage of being in the top five becomes especially important at this moment!

The next moment, five figures leaped into the teleportation array one after another.

The final results for clearing customs on East Island have been released.

First place: Ciel.

Second place, appeal to the world.

Third place, Liuli.

Fourth place, Dorothy.

Fifth place, Dorian.

Of the top five, Karentia occupies three spots.

This also means that they will start the next team competition with an overwhelming advantage!

……

On the eastern island, the fighting ceased.

Saki thanked Iwao, and then together with Class 1, stepped into the teleportation array.

There are no rewards after fifth place, so there's no point in worrying about the ranking anymore.

The moment the spirit stepped into the teleportation array, it was lifted up by a gentle force.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a completely different world.

What comes into view is a ruined city, with dilapidated high-rise buildings standing under a gray sky.

The group was in a city square.

People passing through customs on the east side of the island occupied a corner of the square.

"Saki-kun!" Ruri, who had been teleported over first, finally relaxed her tense shoulders when she saw Saki-kun appear.

She flew to Qi Ji's side immediately and removed her armor.

In the first stage, Liuli kept her armor active the entire time. Although she didn't experience any intense battles, she still constantly expended her mental energy to maintain her strength.

Now, it will take some time to recover.

"This is the reward I received for coming in third place."

Ruri handed a card to Saki.

Saki took it and glanced at it.

The card is named "Support".

……

Outside the arena, the audience in Xinzhi City who witnessed this scene raised many questions.

With the strength she demonstrated in the first level, coupled with her impeccable character model, Liuli quickly gained a large following.

It was one thing for Liuli to drag her burden forward in the first level, but why did she give up the advantage she had gained through her own strength right from the start in the second level?

Immediately, everyone felt sorry for Liuli.

"Seriously? This is clearly a top-five reward from Liuli, how can this guy have the nerve to accept it?"

"After all, he was once the 'number one genius,' although now... but people always like to dwell on the past."

The Thousand Faces family's brainwashing has indeed been successful, and many people now believe their claims.

Even when Saki first arrived on the island, he clearly showed off his skills, but the Thousand Faces Clan's propaganda machine twisted it into a sword that was thrown out in an instant...

The craziest thing is that a lot of people actually believed it.

Of course, this is also because Saki's current appearance—sitting in a wheelchair and coughing up blood from time to time—has inadvertently lowered everyone's impression of him.

Although some people in the crowd knew Saki and spoke up for him, their voices were too weak in the face of the majority who followed the crowd, and were quickly drowned out by the louder noise.

Thanks to the Thousand Faces family's relentless smear campaign, Saki's image has become—

A fake genius, a ruthless liar.

This is the power of public opinion.

With Karentia once again gaining a decisive advantage, the spectators desperately needed an outlet to vent their emotions.

Unfortunately, due to the efforts of the Thousand Faces family, Qi Ji became that channel.

The live stream briefly switched to the audience's reactions in the show, and the screen immediately filled with a dense barrage of comments:

"Here we go again! After bullying Huomu, now they're attacking my Laoji!"

"The will of dominance has been unleashed!"

"666, is this the true value of the people of the City of Fire? It was a complete waste of my time saving them in White Harbor..."